Valorant Champions 2023 has finally concluded with its Grand Finals match between Pacific's Paper Rex and Americas' Evil Geniuses. These two teams had faced each other previously in the Upper Finals, delivering one of the most intense series in the event. In the end, it was Paper Rex that came out on top. However, Evil Geniuses were able to fight their way through the lower bracket and grant themselves a deserving rematch against Paper Rex.
Paper Rex had the upper hand in the Bo5 (best-of-five) series, as they had the map ban advantage and a day's rest. The series started off with Evil Geniuses winning on Paper Rex's map pick. However, the latter responded with a win and equalized the score on Evil Geniuses' map pick. Eventually, Evil Geniuses played brilliantly and were able to win the next two maps to become the World Champions of 2023.
After the match, Sportskeeda Esports' Sneh Jadhav got the opportunity to talk to Evil Geniuses' IGL (In-game Leader), Boostio, to ask him about what the difference was in shot calling in the rematch that allowed him to win the series. He responded by saying:
"It felt a lot easier this time around."
Evil Geniuses' Boostio talks about his experience in the rematch against Paper Rex in Valorant Champions 2023
Evil Geniuses were heavily doubted at the beginning of the 2023 season of Valorant Champions Tour. The team got eliminated early on LOCK//IN and started out very slow in the Americas League. However, they saw an upward trajectory in their results after the inclusion of the player, Demon1 in their roster.
Since then, they finished in second place at Masters Tokyo and have now won the Valorant Champions 2023 to crown themselves world champions. Evil Geniuses went above and beyond to prove everyone wrong and have surpassed their expectations.
During the post-match conference, Sportskeeda Esports approached Evil Geniuses' Boostio to ask him about his experience as an IGL in the rematch against Paper Rex and what he did differently in his shot calling this time that allowed them to emerge victorious. Here's what he said:
"I think honestly it was kind of like just reps. We played that first series and we knew exactly, they (Paper Rex) are pretty readable, to be honest as a team. They are very good. One of the best teams in the world, of course, but they are pretty readable. So just kind of getting three maps on them and just you know OT and long games, it felt a lot easier this time around. All the players kind of didn't feel the pressure that they were doing the first series. I think that's why, to be honest."
With this win, Evil Geniuses have created history by becoming the first team from NA to win Valorant Champions. Given the amount of doubts that surrounded this team at the beginning of 2023, this victory is nothing short of remarkable.